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Finding Trades with a Day Job

The most popular excuse for the majority of traders who fall out of touch with the markets is overwhelmingly “I just don’t have time to scan the markets”. Now, for the brain surgeons and investment bankers out there, you might in fact be telling the truth as you literally have no time to look at the markets. For everyone else out there, it’s usually just a case of needing to prioritise your trading over other things you spend your time on.

Trading with a day job is absolutely possible, but you need to allocate yourself enough time to scan the markets and place your orders. Your determination and desire to be a successful trader will determine whether you allow yourself the time or not. So how much time is realistic to successfully trade the markets? We like to think that at least 30 minutes a day is a good amount of time to allocate. Let’s run through some tips and techniques which will allow you to effectively scan the markets within this time frame.

Focus your attention on 20 or less markets

You don’t have time to scan through hundreds of charts in a limited amount of time, so pick your favourite 20 markets and stick to scanning through these charts. By restricting the amount of markets you look at to 20 charts it will make the process of scanning that much easier, especially after a long day at work.

Allow yourself to be distraction free for 30 minutes

There’s no point allocating yourself 30 minutes worth of trading time if during those 30 minutes you’re constantly distracted. You need to be extremely focused on the markets so make sure you remove any potential distractions from your office i.e. phones and other work that needs doing. If you live with others, make sure that they know not to talk and distract you for your set amount of time.

Focus your scan on daily charts

A great time saver when scanning through the markets is to focus the majority of your time analysing the daily charts of your 20 markets. If the daily chart shows a trending market with clear direction, this will be a good sign for you to check all other timeframes. If however, the daily chart shows no clear direction with erratic price action, you should skip straight to the next chart and not waste your time going into lower timeframes.

So if you’re like the majority of traders out there who are working their butt off at their day job and are struggling to find the time to trade the markets, make sure you try to apply the tips and techniques discussed in this article. Spark up that flame and passion for trading again, and don’t let any excuses stand in the way of you becoming a highly successful trader.

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